ELSAH, Ill. - Webster University saw its second half rally come up just short here Tuesday evening as the men's basketball team suffered a disappointing 88-83 loss to Principia College in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Hays Fieldhouse on the Principia College campus.
The Gorloks, who trailed 52-36 at the half, outscored the Panthers, 47-36 in the second half, including pulling within three points twice within the final 30 seconds of the game, before Principia hit two free throws with 11 seconds left to seal just its second win over the Gorloks since the beginning of the 2002 season.
With the loss, Webster falls to 17-6 overall and 13-3 in the SLIAC, while Principia improves to 6-17 overall and 5-12 in the league. The Gorloks, who entered the game sitting atop the league standings following Greenville's 161-153 loss on Monday at Eureka, fell back into a tie for first place with Greenville University in the SLIAC standings with two games left in the regular season. Webster has now dropped two of its last four games with both of those losses coming on the road.
Webster's second half rally was aided by a combined 42 points from sophomore forward
Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach), junior guard
Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) and sophomore forward
Nigel Wilcox (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial). Etienne scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half, while Tankins scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime and Wilcox tallied 10 points and nine rebounds in the second half.
Wilcox, who has now had two straight double-doubles and seven in his last nine games, finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double this season and his school record tying 17th career double-double. Wilcox tied the school's all-time double-double mark of 17 that was set by Steve Pierson (1985-86). Pierson also holds the school's single season mark for double-doubles with 17.
The Gorloks opened the second half on a 10-4 run to pull within 10 points at 56-46 with 15:15 left in the game. The run was keyed by eight points from Etienne.
Principia, though, answered right back with an 8-0 lead to push its lead to 64-46 following a trey from Micah Paulson, who led the way with a game high 28 points. Webster responded with a 16-5 run over the next six minutes to cut Principia's lead to 69-62 with 7:22 remaining. The run began with a lay-up by Wilcox and was capped by a lay-up from Etienne.
The Panthers, who had lost 30 straight games to the Gorloks prior to Tuesday's win, used a 9-6 run to extend its lead to 78-68 with 3:14 remaining. Principia's last win over the Gorloks came at Hays Fieldhouse on Feb. 26, 2002 as the Panthers defeated the Gorloks, 81-78.
Webster wouldn't go away as they scored eight of the next 10 points to drop Principia's lead to 80-76 with 1:53 left. The run was keyed by four points from Tankins and was capped by a lay-up from Wilcox.
After the Panthers scored four of the next six points to push its lead to 84-78, Etienne hammered home a dunk and made a free throw to complete a 3-point to bring the Gorloks within three at 84-81 with 31 seconds. Two free throws from Zack Matters and Evan Eisenauer sandwiched around two free throws by Tankins capped the scoring.
In addition to Paulson, Trevaughn Goodman added 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Matters and Clark Davidson each had 12 points and Brennan Paulson added 10 points as Principia had five double-digit scorers.
Principia held junior guard
Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) to 13 points, all of which came in the first half. Johnson entered the game averaging nearly 18 points per game. Johnson did match a season high with six assists.
The Panthers strong first half was keyed by 67 percent shooting from the field and 56 percent from the 3-point line as they scored 52 points in the opening 20 minutes and led by as much as 18 points following a trey by Brennan Paulson with 5:21 left in the opening half,. In the half, Micah Paulson and Goodman combined for 29 points as Paulson had 18 points and Goodman scored 11 points.
Along with Wilcox's double-double, Etienne also added a double-double as he pulled down 10 boards to go with his 27 points. The double-double was the second of the season for Etienne.
Junior guard
Blake Ferrell (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway South) also matched a season high with eight points as he scored four points in each half.
The Gorloks were outrebounded, 42-35, in the loss. Webster forced 11 turnovers that led to 15 points, while Principia forced seven turnovers.
Principia blocked eight shots and had 19 assists, while Wilcox had both of WU's bocks and the Gorloks dished out 15 assists. The two blocks pushes Wilcox's season total to 57, which is one short of the number of blocks he recorded last year. The 57 blocks is tied for third most on the school's single season chart.
The Gorloks return home to Grant Gymnasium on Saturday, Feb. 16 as they host Greenville University in a 3 p.m. SLIAC contest. Webster picked up a 130-122 win over the Panthers at Greenville on Jan. 16.
